Sage Karam

Number: 22

DISAPPOINTING DAY FOR PANTHER DRR AND ORIOL SERVIA IN SONOMA

RACE NOTES/QUOTES---- Sonoma, CA, August 26,
2012

Fast Facts:

Servia qualified 20th for today's race, but due to two cars in
front of him incurring a 10 grid spot penalty for an unapproved
engine change, Oriol started the race 18th. He was in Group 2 for
yesterday's qualifying session. Unfortunately he missed a spot in
the Fast 12 by one tenth of a second. He clocked the 20th fastest
time of 1:18.9672 (108.729 mph).

Oriol got a good start and gained two positions on the first
lap going from P18 to P16.

On Lap 15, Servia came into the pits for his first stop,
receiving a full fill of fuel, a turn of front wing and switched
from the Firestone Firehawk Primary (black-sidewall) tires to a set
of "sticker" Firestone Firehawk Alternate (red-sidewall) tires. He
filtered out to P22, but once all of the stops were done he went up
to P17.

Things were going smoothly until Lap 34 when James Hinchcliffe
broke too early, which damaged Oriol's front wing. Fortunately, he
was able to make his pit window. Servia came in on Lap 39 to
replace the front wing, receive a full fill of fuel and switch from
the Firestone Firehawk Alternate (red-sidewall) tires to the
Firestone Firehawk Primary (black-sidewall) tires. He came into the
pits in 15th position but would drop back to P22 as a result.

Servia came in for his last pit stop on Lap 63 to receive a
full fill of fuel, a turn of front wing and to switch from the
Firestone Firehawk Primary (black-sidewall) tires to a set of
"sticker" Firestone Firehawk Alternate (red-sidewall) tires. He was
P17 when he came in.

On Lap 74 there was a full course caution for contact between
Josef Newgarden and Sebastien Bourdais. The restart of was on Lap
74 and Oriol started in 15th position. Another yellow came out on
Lap 74 and the restart was on Lap 76.

Unfortunately on Lap 78, Oriol was battling for position and
was P14 at the time, but made contact with Mike Conway and had to
serve a drive thru penalty for avoidable contact on Lap 81. He
finished the race one lap down and in 19th position.

During Saturday morning's practice session Oriol came into the
pits with around six minutes left of practice complaining of a tire
going down. It ended up being a monoball that failed on the left
front upper wishbone that had to be replaced. He was 24th
quickest.

TranSystems was the primary livery on the No. 22 machine this
weekend. TranSystems is a global engineering ﬁrm focused on
delivering solutions across the entire transportation world.
To achieve this, TranSystems consulting services span all modes,
including architectural, engineering and planning, management and
supply chain, transportation security and transportation real
estate consulting services. The No. 22 machine will sport a new and
improved look for this weekend's race. The TranSystems primary will
incorporate Servia's helmet design with the self-portrait of Dali
on the side of the car. Also, the Michael Mondavi Family Estate
will be have associate partnership with Panther DRR for this
weekend's event. The Mondavi logo will be incorporated into
the new TranSystems paint scheme.

This weekend marked Servia's 4th start at Infineon Raceway.
Last year he started 18th and finished 11th. In 2010, he started
17th and finished 6th. His first start at the track was in 2008
where he started 6th and finished 15th.

In eight races, Servia has gained a total of 98 positions (7
positions in St. Pete to finish 16th, 13 positions in Barber to
finish 13th, 7 positions in Long Beach to finish 16th, 12 positions
in Brazil to finish 11th, 23 positions in Indianapolis to finish
4th, 11 positions in Detroit to finish 5th, 16 positions in
Milwaukee to finish 4th and 9 positions in Toronto to finish
5th).

Since making the switch to Chevy power, Panther DRR and Oriol
Servia have earned four top-five results in nine races, tying with
a season best of fourth place at the Indianapolis 500 and in
Detroit.

Last year Oriol finished fourth in IZOD IndyCar Series
standings....Recorded 11 top-10 finishes, with a best of second at
New Hampshire and Baltimore....Among three drivers to be running at
the finish in all 17 races..... Led all drivers in laps completed
(2,103 of 2,011)....Oriol was the only driver to finish in the top
10 in first five races of the season.

Panther DRR

This weekend marked the team's eighth time to compete at the
12-turn 2.303 mile circuit. Last year, Giorgio Pantano qualified
11th and finished the race 17th due to being penalized on the last
lap after having run in 6th place for most of the race and Ana
Beatriz started 10th and finished 13th. In 2011,
Panther DRR finished 6th with Wilson and 24th with Hildebrand, 3rd
with Mike Conway in 2009, 11th in 2005 with Roger Yasukawa, and
11th in 2008 with Buddy Rice. The team's best start at
Infineon was in 2010 with Justin Wilson and in 2006 with Ryan
Briscoe, who both started seventh.

It was announced in May that the Indianapolis-based squad has
united with two-time IndyCar Series champion Panther Racing to form
a strategic alliance on Oriol Servia's entry for the remainder of
the 2012 season. The No. 22 Panther/DRR team will utilize Panther's
second Chevrolet engine lease and work in conjunction with the No.
4 National Guard team and driver JR Hildebrand.

Oriol Servia, No. 22 Panther DRR, on the GoPro Indy Grand
Prix of Sonoma:"Even when we started at the back we thought
that we had a car to move up to the front with strategy, but it
just wasn't happening and then we had a couple of incidents. Our
first was with Hinchcliffe. I thought that he was saving fuel or
was having some sort of mechanical issue and in Turn 11 he broke
very early and I had a problem and locked wheels, but I broke my
front wing and I spun him. That cost us because we had to change
the front wing. At the end, Dixon was trying to pass me for three
laps and I was braking as late as I could to not get passed and I
think Mike Conway hit someone in front so he was a little slow and
I hit him in the corner and they gave me the drive thru. It wasn't
our day and it's one of those days it would have been more painful
if were battling for the podium, but still I think that we could
have managed a top-ten without those two incidents but it wasn't
the case. Difficult weekend, but the TranSystems car was really
good in the end so I think that we will have good pace in
Baltimore."

Back on Track: Panther DRR will head straight to
Baltimore, Maryland for the Grand Prix of Baltimore Presented by
SRT. The race is scheduled for Sunday, September 2nd at 2:30 pm ET.
Live coverage will be on the NBC Sports Network and the IMS Radio
Network. Please visit www.dreyerreinboldracing.com for more
updates.